Insider: Will Power (who else) wins the IndyCar Grand Prix

Team Penske IndyCar driver Will Power (12) celebrates in victory circle after winning the running of the 2018 IndyCar Grand Prix, Saturday, May 12, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS — Neither rain, nor yellow flags nor Scott Dixon could prevent pole-sitter Will Power from accomplishing what seemed inevitable heading into the day. The Team Penske star capitalized on his pole position and for the third time in four years in winning the IndyCar Grand Prix.

Though there were moments throughout the race where it looked like Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Robert Wickens or Chip Ganassi Racing's Dixon could threaten Power's stranglehold on the race, the 37-year-old Australian never relented as he picked up his first win of the season.

See you in the winner's circle: For Power, the result is a breath of fresh air after he finished 21st at Barber last time out. He's still got a long way to go to climb back into the championship picture, but this was a momentum-builder heading into the Indianapolis 500. For Power it was his 33rd career victory and 30th with Team Penske, which notched its 200th IndyCar victory.

While the result was a big one for Power, Dixon had the drive of the day. He vaulted all the way up from a Row 9 starting spot to finish second.

Wickens held off a hard-charging Alexander Rossi to finish third.

Team Penske IndyCar driver Will Power (12) celebrates winning the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 12, 2018.

You must remember this: If Josef Newgarden comes up short in his title defense, he will likely look back to this race as one of the reasons why. Though he looked like a long shot to win, he seemed a shoe-in for at least a top-five finish before he made a costly mistake at the end of Lap 56.

Trying to maneuver around Sebastien Bourdais in Turn 12, Newgarden spun out and caused a full-course yellow. Fortunately his car needed only to be restarted, but it looks like the Team Penske star punted a great finish, and instead had to settle for 11th. It's the fifth straight year Newgarden has finished outside the top 10 at the IndyCar Grand Prix.

Driver another day: Jordan King has to be one frustrated man. For the second time in his short IndyCar career, due to circumstances largely out of his control, the Ed Carpenter Racing rookie was unable to turn a great qualifying effort into a solid race result. At the season-opener at St. Pete, he started fourth before a punctured tire sent him careening into a wall. At Saturday's IndyCar Grand Prix, he started fifth but didn't even make it out of Turn 2 before bad luck struck.

As he was trying to make the turn, he rammed into the back of Simon Pagenaud, who had gotten squeezed down the track by Helio Castroneves. There was little King could do to avoid contact, he could never get back on the lead lap and ultimately finished last. It was a tough break for the youngster, and it will be an especially tough pill to swallow since the ECR road and street course driver will have to wait until Detroit to climb back into an IndyCar.

Championship update: With a fifth-place finish — his fourth top-five of the young season — Alexander Rossi closed in on championship leader Newgarden. Rossi's 176 points are just two shy of Newgarden as the series heads into the double points Indianapolis 500. Bourdais stays in third (152 points) with his fourth-place finish.

I stink: I went out on a limb and picked someone other than the odds-on favorite, Power, racing at a circuit he's historically dominated. I went with Wickens, and a third-place finish is a respectable result for both him and me. However, wagering against the now three-time IndyCar Grand Prix champion proved to be a mistake.

BONUS See you in the winner's circle: Budding star Colton Herta put on a show this weekend, sweeping a pair of Indy Lights races at IMS.

Following his come-from-behind victory Friday, Herta repeated the feat Saturday as he climbed from the back of the field and capped his day with a thrilling pass for the lead and eventual win. With three laps to go, Santi Urrutia tried to fend off Herta, but the son of former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta used his final push-to-pass to make the move around Urritia as they headed into Turn 1.

"I was ahead going into the corner and he pushed me off into the grass when we were side by side," Herta said. "He didn’t leave me any room coming back onto the track, so we made contact. It was an all-or-nothing move for me because it was my last push-to-pass, but as far as I’m concerned, it was a racing incident.”

Urrutia spun out and wound up finishing fourth.

After doubling up at the IMS road course, Herta now finds himself in second place in the championship, just one point behind Pato O’Ward heading into the May 25 Freedom 100.